VA ~ Music From the Lost Provinces: Old-Time String Bands from Ashe County, North Carolina & Vicinity, 1927-31 [Old Hat, 1997]

01. Train 45 - Grayson & Whitter
02. Nine Pound Hammer - Frank Blevins & His Tar Heel Rattlers
03. Last Gold Dollar ~ Ephraim Woodie & The Henpecked Husbands
04. Ground Hog - Jack Reedy & His Walker Mountain String Band
05. My Name Is Ticklish Reuben - Smyth County Ramblers
06. Fly Around My Pretty Little Miss - Frank Blevins & His Tar Heel Rattlers
07. Nobody's Darling - North Carolina Ridge Runners
08. Short Life Of Trouble - Grayson & Whitter
09. Don't Get Trouble In Your Mind - Frank Blevins & His Tar Heel Rattlers
10. Cluck Old Hen - The Hill Billies
11. Likes Likker Better Than Me ~ Woodie Brothers
12. Way Down in Alabama ~ Smyth County Ramblers
13. The Fatal Courtship ~ Ephraim Woodie & The Henpecked Husbands
14. I've Always Been A Rambler - Grayson & Whitter
15. I've Got No Honey Babe Now - Frank Blevins & His Tar Heel Rattlers
16. Governor Al Smith For President - Carolina Night Hawks
17. Chinese Breakdown - Jack Reedy & His Walker Mountain String Band
18. Be Kind To A Man When He's Down - North Carolina Ridge Runners
19. Old Aunt Betsy - Frank Blevins & His Tar Heel Rattlers
20. Chased Old Satan Through The Door - Woodie Brothers
21. Handsome Molly - Grayson & Whitter
22. Sally Ann - Frank Blevins & His Tar Heel Rattlers



'An outstanding collection of 22 songs and tunes first recorded between 1927-1931 by string bands from Ashe County, North Carolina, a mountainous area in the northwest corner of the state once known as “The Lost Provinces” because of its extreme isolation. The music includes traditional fiddle tunes, folk songs, Anglo-Irish ballads, comic songs, topical numbers and original compositions, all from the time period often called the “golden era” of old-time string music. The anthology brings together for the first time the complete recordings of Frank Blevins & His Tar Heel Rattlers, the Carolina Night Hawks, the North Carolina Ridge Runners, and many more.'

the first comp we ever picked up from this superb label sometime last century & still a stunner, due in no small part to the presence of the venerable Grayson & Whitter on several cuts. do yer homework. these are just the kinda jams that make me wanna live waaaaaaay out in the country & a dam fine way to enjoy yer stay on this planet. 320 hillbilly hollers